Have You Eaten Yet?

From 19 May. 

Lunch with a Rural Church near Nanjing - May 2011

"Have you eaten yet?" These were the words with which we were greeted by Prof. Chloe Starr as we arrived at Beijing's Capital Airport - not 'Hello' or 'Hi' or even 'How was your flight?'

More than tending to a practical matter at hand, the question (as I learned during my time in Malaysia) is a traditional Chinese greeting. It is also indicative of the significant role meals would play during the subsequent two weeks.

Gathered knee-to-knee and elbow to elbow at round tables, our chopsticks were perpetually poised to pluck the delicacies that spun past us on a seemingly endless succession of lazy-susans: rice porridge, steamed buns, fish, Peking Duck, Mongolian Mutton, Hot Pot beef, Hohhot dairy, broccoli, eggplant, tofu, greens, and fried chicken buried under a mountain of mouth-numbing dried chilies.  This was all paired with beverages like fragrant tea & boiled water; Tsingtato & Suntory beer, and of course smooth Golden Camel and harsher brands of the sorghum based liquor known as Baijiu.

While memorable events in and of themselves, more often than not these meals functioned as vehicles for entering more deeply into local manifestations of Chinese culture in general and cultivating relationships with Church Officials, colleagues, and friends from the Grasslands of Inner Mongolia, to a Rural Church outside Nanjing, and the Cosmopolitan Heights of Shanghai.

Through food, drink, and conversation we were able to develop a taste for China and tune our ears to the stories, experiences, dreams, and concerns that motivate the Christian Church there.